Book review #3 The Passage, by Justin Cronin

Alright, I read this book awhile ago, so I won't be writing much.

This book really took hold of my imagination for the two weeks that it took me to finish it. It is not a small book, so I'd say it's a book for people who: love a brilliant storyline with twists and omg moments, have lots of time, or are readers at heart. It's hard to pass this book up.

The premise... Well, the book's premise changes about three (major times) in the book. If you read the first hundred pages you might not even know the book had vampires in it.

First premise) There is a little girl named Amy, and she has a mother who became a prostitute. Her mother gets into some trouble and eventually leaves Amy in a nunnery. Amy is taken in there, but not after long is she snatched up by the FBI for experimental testing. There are several side stories, the main are about the nun who takes Amy in, the FBI agent in charge of collecting the people who are to be tested, and the people involved with the actual testing (specifically a janitor who ends up triggering the end of the world).

Second Premise) This is after the apocalypse. There is a mini-plot line about Amy surviving the apocalypse (she is "different") with the FBI agent who now loves her, but this ends quickly. It moves to about 150 pages setting up the scene of a refuge about 100 years after the apocalypse. I won't say spoilers, but I'll just say that Justin Cronin creates his own society with amazing genuineness. The whole knowledge of the world is packed into a small colony of less than 200 people. They live under the "lights" that word away the virals(vampires) at night. This may sound like a cheesy plot line, but it's not. He writes beautifully, and with such detail and characterization that you find it hard to believe he hasn't met the people he writes about. Here's what inspires the next step in the story: There is an imminent danger coming to the colony, and there is a job called the watchers. These watchers mostly guard the colony at night, but the occasionally have to leave it to... it doesn't really matter. But the fact that some people can leave inspires a journey.

Third premise) During the third premise, the main character in the colony meets Amy during a "ride." They discover that she is over one hundred years old, and also that somewhere there is a signal transmitting a taunting message. After the colony is ravaged by chaos this group who wish to find answers are basically considered fugitives. So they leave and that's where I will leave off... From there the premise for the next two books is set, and let's say it is a clever one. The virals, throughout the book seen as savages, get a different look at themselves, and the group discovers that there are other people out there living... and some are just as evil and deadly as the virals.

I'm sorry if that spoiled too much, but if you read it simply for his style then it is worth it. Usually his kind of excessive use of descriptions annoy me, but with the new world that he makes, you want him to tell you what it looks and feels like.

This book isn't short, but it's worth every page. Please read.

Enjoy!